Ronan Collins (born 9 October 1952) is an Irish broadcaster from

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Up until 23 December 2022, Collins held the prestige of maintaining one of the longest-running radio shows on Ireland’s national station,

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

. At its peak, 250,000 listeners tuned in daily to ''The Ronan Collins Show'' between 12 pm - 1 pm, Monday - Friday.

Life and career

Collins started his

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

career as a member of a

showband The Irish showband () was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the 1950s to the 1980s, with its peak in the 1960s. These bands typically had seven to ten members, including a rhythm section and a brass section with various combinations o ...

playing drums. He began his national radio career on RTÉ Radio 2, having worked on

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

prior to that. During his television career, he presented the celebrity game show '' Play the Game'' from 1984 to 1995. He also used to present Ireland’s national lottery draw, and most recently A Little Bit Showband (2008–2009). Collins has commentated on the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

for

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

television. He was a presenter as part of RTE's 1992 Barcelona Olympics coverage, shaving off his moustache when Ireland won a medal. Ronan Collins left his daily lunchtime show at the end of 2022, to be replaced by Louise Duffy. He now presents a regular music show ''The Collins Collection'' on bank holidays and will present shows for

RTÉ Gold RTÉ Gold is an Irish radio station broadcasting on Saorview, online, and Virgin Media. RTE Gold is also available on Eir TV (eirtv /eir vision) eir Background The station plays music from the 1950s to the 2000s. Weekday programming has pr ...

. Collins has been married to Woody since 1978, they have three children. In 2012, Collins was diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

Controversies

Collins controversially had free use of a

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

(a luxury

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

motor), supplied by Ben Dunne. Collins once had a memorably famous row with

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

on ''

Liveline ''Liveline'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which has been presented since 1999 by Joe Duffy, and is known for its ...

''. Collins described

Six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

's debut single "There's a Whole Lot of Loving Going On" as "absolutely awful" and "lacking in credibility, imagination and musicianship". Walsh called Collins "a failed showband star" who played in "Mickey Mouse bands" and told him to "go and save the kids around the world".

References

External links

Website of ''The Ronan Collins Show''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Ronan 1952 births Living people People educated at St. Vincent's C.B.S., Glasnevin RTÉ 2fm presenters RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ television presenters Television personalities from Dublin (city) 1970s in Irish music 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music